Skeeter 1880 Set up

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I run a Skeeter 1880, Single console, 150 yamaha 4 stroke (I should have gotten the 200). 5 1/2" set back with jack plate- running about at 5" below pad. SS 19 pitch Solas Titan 2 prop. I'm turning around 5800 RPM's giving plenty of trim, top speed is 51.7 GPS. I think I can squeeze a few more MPH. Thought about dropping to an 18 pitch to get my RPM's up??? I did run a 21 p and a 22p but the RPM's fall way to low. Looking for some suggestions--

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I agree with what marine_man said - if you drop pitch you'll gain rpms but not enough to stop you from losing speed - and you can play around with props all you want but how much do you want to pay for 1 or 2 or 3 mph.

I'm not familiiar with the solas titan 2 prop - how many blades? I have a buddy that has the F150 on an 1850 Reata and he runs the Yamaha Pro Stainless (I think that's what it's called), and he runs a 21 pitch. We've tested some props on his boat the the 21 Pro was the best.

You say you're running 5" below the pad? This sounds too low to me although I can't say for sure without seeing it. Raising your motor will give you more rpms and more speed, and if you can gain rpms you can go back to your 21 pitch prop and get even more speed. That's the way I would go, the key is making sure you have enough water pressure when running if you raise your motor.

Good luck getting it sorted out.

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The Titan is a cupped 3 blade prop- Funny thing is if you look at the performance bulletins from Skeeter they run the the stock M-19 props (steel) at 6000 RPMs with a top speed at 49.9. I figured I could squeeze at least 4 to 5 MPH with messing around with motor heights, setback and SS props. I will play with the motor height a little more, but I have to watch the H2O pressure and cornering it may slip. The fact that I have some RPMs to play with (200 to 300) makes me think of trying a smaller pitch prop. When I ran the 21 and 23 I didn't have the RPMs- it was sluggish out of the hole, top speed was around 45 to 46. I'm not unhappy about the performance, because getting there is half the fun! Thanks for the help.

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I agree on the propshaft height being too low. Do you get torque steer in midrange? Do you have a water pressure gauge?

I set up my current boat with the propshaft about 3 1/2" below the pad and that seems to perform best with respect to handling, water pressure, and hole shot. My boat is similar to yours, just a bit bigger. It is a 20' Viper F/S with a 200 Mercury, running a 23" Tempest prop. When I got it the propshaft was about 5" below the pad and it torque steered, was sluggish on the hole shot, and had a top speed in the upper 50's. I jacked up the motor until I had ventilation issues and lost the torque steer, got better hole shot, and raised the top speed to 65 mph (on speedo). One note of caution, I had to epoxy the top two holes on the water pickup to keep pressure at speed. I think that if your prop can take it, raising the motor on the jack plate will help a lot!

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I have a buddy with a new 1880 that has a 200 HPDI and he said it goes 55mph GPS, so I'm not sure if you'll be getting a lot more out of that 150. Those Skeeters have a fairly fast hull underneath them.

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Ps. The boat in my avatar was a Stoker 204SST mod-V tunnel boat with a 200 Evinrude. That one did 83 mph with a Mazco RE3-29" prop, 2" below the pad. That was an animal to hold on to with that prop paddlewheeling out back!

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The bigfoot blocks the light just fine. I bought used so there were portions of it that were worn and had tiny holes, but even with that I could see great. Making sure your skirt is down properly and covering up the floor make a much bigger difference. I use EVA foam exercise tiles for the floor, light weight and shed the water well.

This year I went around and patched up a bunch of those, I used something we had lying around called Gesso, but I am guessing white out would have worked fine. Let that dry and then went over it with a sharpie. I doubt it will make a difference in me getting a fish or not, but needed to fill some time with the late ice .
I am fairly certain this is the style of interior that caused the issue of seeing lines in the hole.

That is a good point to make. I never thought about the extra torque that is needed for the chipper blades witch I think is why the SM Electra has such a short battery life and NOT to get it confused with SM lithium lazer and no the SM doesn't have reverse. The reverse isn't a huge selling point for me but it is a plus. The more I read comments about ION I might have to get me one.

Very nice work again LRG! Like many others, I have gotten a lot of good information from your postings on here and greatly appreciate it! I am in the process of building a 22' house now myself and know the extra time and effort it takes to document progress. I plan to share some of my experiences when I'm closer to finished. Once again thank you very much for sharing and great work!

Never even thought of that will check but I think it should be fine though.
Seems dark with the skirt laying flat, windows, vents, and doors shut set up in the basement with lots of lights on seems nice and dark. Wouldn't know till I get out there and try it I guess.

I talked to the guys who measure the precip up at the meetings I recently attended. Asked them when they were having the party to celebrate. We were fortunate here. Plenty of rain but managed to escape several of the major poundings they got just 13 miles to the north. More on that here:
This boat is blacked out like a city
Awaiting bombers in the night
While there were no 50 degree highs the scurs and their trusty Weather Eye still kept things above zero and largely above freezing. ? Starting Wednesday, partly sunny with a slight chance of snow. Highs in the low 20’s with lows in the low teens. Thursday, mostly cloudy with a slight chance of snow in the forenoon. Highs in the low 20’s with lows around 10. Mostly sunny Friday with increasing clouds with a modest chance of snow in the evening. Highs in the upper teens with lows in the mid-teens. Saturday, mostly cloudy with a moderate chance of snow. Highs in the mid-20’s with lows in the upper teens. Mostly cloudy on Sunday with a slight chance of forenoon snow. Highs in the mid-20’s with lows in the upper teens. Monday, mostly cloudy with a chance of flurries. Highs in the mid-20’s with lows in the lower double digits. Mostly cloudy for Tuesday with a continued chance for snow showers. Highs in the low 20’s with lows in the mid-single digits, still above zero. The normal high for December 13th is 27 and the normal low is 10. We’ll be down to 8 hours and 56 minutes of daylight on the 13th. The scurs procrastination is paying off once again. With the short days and all the cloudy weather it’s better for napping than shopping anyway.
The Full Moon for the month also will occur on the 13th and is known as the Full Cold Moon, The Moon before the Yule or the Long Nights Moon, aptly named with the short days we are experiencing. The Ojibwe called this the Small Spirits Moon and the Sioux named it the Moon of Popping Trees. At the ranch we know it as the Moon of Frozen Water Buckets.
Measurable snow fell in Bugtussle and at the ranch for the first time this winter season on Saturday night into Sunday a.m. An inch of snow which melted down to .09” of liquid equivalent precipitation. It was all but melted by early afternoon accumulating into the soil which remained unfrozen. The soil profile down to the 5’ depth was had a little over 10” of available moisture in it back on November 2nd. There’s little reason to believe it’s a lot drier than that even though we were slightly below the normal 2.16” of precip at the SROC for last month.
Speaking of the SROC, hats off (and swim fins on) for their recent setting of the annual precipitation record for MN. The record of 53.73” was set back on November 28th; they’ve received more since then and have the rest of December to add to it. Records in Bugtussle are incomplete as the gauge was not functional until April 7th. At the ranch we garnered 43.25” by the end of November. Let’s hope we don’t play catch up.
Some isolated areas of remaining corn were rumored to have been picked but aside from that, very little fieldwork was accomplished this past week. Some are still hoping to get one more crack at some tillage or anhydrous ammonia application although that window will likely close quickly given the forecast. It also remains questionable how well the ground will seal and whether the knives on the applicators will ball up. It really hasn’t dried up to speak of.
At the Lions pancake feed Sunday it was great to see Buddy Shurson in attendance. For those of you who didn’t read the wonderful article that included Buddy a few weeks ago, he was a gunner on a B-17 during WWII. Until after I saw him I’d almost forgotten that Wednesday the 7th marks the 75th anniversary of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. I still remember my parents telling me what dark days in history those were after that. On the farm war time rationing made everyone feel the pinch and there was some jealousy when someone got something they didn’t think you should have. I recall Dad telling about neighbors questioning how he wound up with a small, 12” rubber tire on the mounted International sickle mower he’d purchased. Yes, things were that tight.
Back to the B-17. It was a marvel of modern aviation at the time. When first being developed in the mid-1930’s, it was equipped with Pratt and Whitney engines. However, more power was needed so the engines were switched exclusively to the Wright R-1820-97 turbo-supercharged “Cyclone” that developed 1200 hp apiece. There were four wing mounted engines on this aircraft. While not extraordinary by today’s standards, they were beefy enough to allow the aircraft to limp home even if a couple engines had been knocked out. No small feat for a plane weighing over 36,000 lbs. when empty and 54,000 lbs. when loaded.
Who manufactured the engines? During WWII, one of the manufacturers licensed by Wright to produce them was Studebaker. By the time Pearl Harbor was bombed, the company had already converted much of their assembly line capacity in anticipation of our entry into the war, suspending much of its 1942 model year production. A new plant was added for production of the Cyclone. They built over 63,000 of these radial aircraft engines for the B-17’s in the war effort. From January 1944 through the summer of 1945, all B-17 engines were supplied by Studebaker. The company also built nearly 200,000 trucks most of which went to the Soviet Union and over 15,000 Weasels, an all-terrain tracked vehicle. When I look at the Studebakers in our garage, it gives me an appreciation of their place in American history. When I see Buddy, it also makes me happy to know that somewhere along the line the company probably had an impact on bringing our own local piece of American history back home safely. Thanks Buddy and to all who served!
See you next week…real good then.

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OH, MY..